Food Industry

The food industry sets high requirements for hygiene and safety. All equipment must be carefully designed and controlled in order to ensure a good environment for both products and employees. A breeding ground for bacteria can have disastrous consequences for health and finances, and cause unnecessary production stoppages and a loss of good will for the company.

For example, in order to prevent an accumulation of dust and residue affecting the products during manufacturing, there should be no pockets or uneven joints on the equipment and systems. The spaces to be cleaned must be easily accessible and preferably as open as possible. Other parts should be so tight fitting that they do not let in dirt and dust. This demand applies to the whole chain from process and packaging to the warehouse.

In the food industry, where parts of production take place in cold-storage facilities, special consideration must be given to the drive media, such as hydraulics and compressed air. In such a facility, a product can pass through everything from cold-storage areas at minus 40 degrees to room temperature of plus 15 degrees.

Equipment must be adaptable to production, easy to rearrange for other types of product and packaging and be modifiable prior to introduction of new products.

Reliable operation is another requirement. Production is often run in several shifts, which increases wear. As shift work occurs in connection with peak production times, there are no margins for unnecessary production stoppages.

Risk analyses, safety requirements and CE marking also set requirements for documentation of equipment and production. These requirements apply from the smallest bakery up to the major food companies.

KNAPP-Moving undertakes turn-key contracts covering design, manufacturing, assembly and commissioning. If the standard components in KNAPP-Moving's range do not meet the requirements, equipment can be specially manufactured. In most cases, standard equipment from the range accounts for around 90 percent of a system. KNAPP-Moving supplies systems that save space and ensure short handling times and good ergonomics, without being labour-intensive.

Current applications/functions:
- Storage-Warehousing
- Production
- Tote-bin handling
- Pallet handling
- Palletising
- Picking
- Distribution-Sorting